Jesus Camp
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Movie Reviews of Jesus Camp
Movie Review: Disturbing and Thought Provoking Document
Summary: 5 Stars
Jesus camp is a rare document. It is one of the few honest portrayals of the right wing evangelist's movement. The documentary follows Pastor Becky Fisher and her congregation, mostly children since she's a children's pastor. In the film both Becky, some of the children and their parents are interviewed. The result is a very disturbing film.
For those of us outside of the movement Fisher's approach to children seems harsh and irresponsible, it has all the markings of brainwashing. One of the most disturbing scenes is where Fisher preaches about double morale, letting the children believe they've let Satan in their heart by prayer in church but acting indifferently to her teachings in school. We see children panicking and bursting out into tears; later when the children start talking in tongues some seem to loose it.
Yet nowhere in the movie there seems to be bad intent from her side, Becky really believes in what she preaches, really believes she's helping those children. The children themselves talk enthusiastically about the sermons and seem determined to convert others or become preachers themselves. At times the people portrayed here seem to live in another universe than yourselves, but at the same time they're completely congruent with their believes. When they denounce science or global warming these people honestly feel others who do are misguided and need saving.
No where in the movie Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, the directors, attempt to explain how their subjects came into believing; their tales of being reborn remain superficial. In doing so the film never gets an judgemental character, but its also ultimately one of the weaknesses in the film. It leaves the viewer with more questions than he bargained for. You can't help but walking out of the theatre with a feeling of unease; pondering the enormous drift that is apparently there between you and these new borne Christians.
The only balance brought to the movie is by a Christian radio show host. He represents a more moderate vein in Christianity and uses his show to ventilate his concerns on this relatively new movement, especially his concerns on how it seems to erode the separation of church and state, especially with the current administration in the White House. The radio show host is important to the movie, it brings balance to our view of Christians and places the movie in our social political times so we have a basis on which to evaluate what we just saw.
Just how well Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady succeeded in remaining impartial became clear during the question round at the recent viewing at the International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam. A movie that shocked and disturbed most of the audience their was, according to the directors, perceived by its subject as a means to get the message out. They still remained in contact with Becky Fisher, who is apparently satisfied with the way her church is portrayed. Viewings in the US got different responses than in our Amsterdam audience, outside of the coastlines the audience was divided between those who were shocked and those who shouted out hallelujah during the film; once again making the divide in the States painfully clear.
Movie Review: Creepy but not terrifying
Summary: 5 Stars
While much of "Jesus Camp" is set in a North Dakota camp for evangelical kids, the film also depicts the family background of those who would send their kids to such a place. Much of the film focuses on Levi and Racael, two home-schooled kids who have imbibed deeply of their parents' piety and politics. While these kids are hardly robotic or brainwashed, their unkidlike commitment to their religious principles is sometimes scary to watch. Not surprisingly, these kids are insulated from the real world. Rachael prays over her bowling ball before rolling it, then wanders the alley distributing religious tracts to other bowlers. The mulleted Levi and his family recite their pledge to the "Christian flag" and to the Bible before their lessons begin.
The camp itself is run by Backy Fischer, at the ironically-named Devil's Lake, North Dakota. Camp is a combination religious revival and political indoctrination. The kids tearfully (and seemingly quite spontaneously) confess their shortcomings, their already-unbearable load of youthful guilt prompting them to uncontrolled weeping. They sing enthusiastic songs about Jesus, support Geroge W. Bush and pray to end abortion. Back home, they visit pre-scandal Ted Haggard's church in Colorado Springs. Levi, especially, clearly hero-worships Haggard, and can be seen pacing the sanctuary, imagining himself as a world-class evangelist. The film follows the kids to a small Washington DC anti-abortion rally where they stand in protest before the Supreme Court building with "Life" stickers closing their mouths. Afterwards, they encounter the real world -- which is neither as fascinated by them or as impious as they believe.
I had expected to be appalled by the behavior of the parents, but wound up terrified by and concerned for the kids, who are being raised to be narrow-minded, ignorant and self-righteous. Racheal's insistence that God does not listen to the prayers of those whose worship style is sedate has the makings, under the right circumstances, of religious persecution. The film is bracketed by scenes of the bleak midwestern lanscape punctuated by radio snippets about the Supreme Court confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito, a darling of the religious right. Air America's Mike Papantonio appears occasionally while taping his radio show and serves as a counterpoint from the left. His comments are heartfelt, but ineffective, a sad commentary on the left's until-now inability to counter the simplistic notions, unwillingness to engage science and narrow view of the true believers.
"Jesus Camp" is fascinating and frightening, a glimpse inside the world of the kind of Americans who reflexively support anything marketed as Christian, including the war in Iraq and the far-right agenda of the Bush II administration. I don't believe that we should fear people like those shown in the film, as they must someday engage the real world and perhaps moderate their more extreme views. But the film does a wonderful job at acquainting us with people whose world view and aspirations are at odds with science, reason and the notions of a secular form of representative government.
Movie Review: Jihadist Camp
Summary: 5 Stars
I think every human in this country should see the documentary Jesus Camp. It is a disturbing portrait of radical Evangelicals that see it as their duty to create an army for Christ. I have a problem with how vocally angry and war-like these people are...how judgmental they are in their views. They seem to be trying to turn theirs and/or your children into little robots that cannot think for themselves...brainwashed warriors for the Republican Party. They home-school their children to believe whatever they want and blame separation of church and state for the downfall of public education. They believe that science is wrong and if you do not have Jesus in your life then you make up a misguided wretched sect of humanity that needs to be weeded out. What happened to following the ways of Christ? These people are so concerned that there are people alive that are not just like them, that they are literally blind to reality. At the beginning of this documentary, Pastor Becky Fischer tells an audience of children it is their duty to change the world because there are too many fat and lazy Christians out there that are not helping. This woman appears to weigh over 250 pounds. She is in other words extremely obese. I do not understand how people can listen to a single thing that comes out of her fat mouth. She also states that she wants her children to be as radical as Muslim Jihadists. This is insane! They cannot see what is directly in front of most of our faces. It seems to me this is because they only interact with like-minded people. They are only taught/indoctrinated by people that have only one viewpoint. This is what is scary. One viewpoint equals ethnocentrism. No diversity. Closed-mindedness. In sociology, I was taught that ethnocentrism was something everyone has to fight, in order to gain a more complete view of reality. That ethnocentrism leads to prejudice, bigotry, and racism. However, I do not believe that "these people" make up 25% of the population. The film states that 25% of Americans claim to be Evangelical Christians. However, I am sure that there are plenty of Evangelicals that are not this radical. At least I hope so or this country may be past the point of no return. We may not be able to have it back. This is a country that was NOT founded on Judeo-Christian values as one mom in the film erroneously states. The Constitution never once mentions a deity, because the Founding Fathers wanted to keep their new country "religion-neutral." Our Founding Fathers were an eclectic collection of Atheists, Deists, Christians, Freemasons, and Agnostics. George Washington, the Father of our country, and John Adams (Second President of the USA) clearly stated in the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli: "The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion." Apparently this used to be a country that was more tolerant of different ideologies. So please see this film, talk to your friends and family, help take this country back...if not for you, then for the rest of us...including George Washington and the rest of our Founding Fathers.Movie Review: Can we talk about child abuse?
Summary: 5 Stars
If a girl of no more than 10 or 11 years old can sit in front of a camera and proclaim that God is in her church, but not in churches where "they sing three hymns and listen to a sermon", because those churches are "dead", then it surely does seem to me that this is a girl who most urgently needs to be removed from her environment, not least because apparently no one has ever told her that the Bible tells us that wherever two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, Jesus is there. Five stars for this film, because it is beautifully produced, but in content it is absolutely horrifying. Small children gathered together to "speak in tongues" and fall down on the floor in rapture? Is this not child abuse? Is it not true that children need to explore their world on their own, instead of being terrified to death by claims that if they do not believe in the narrowly drawn world of "Evangelical" Christians, they will go straight to hell? It is to the great credit of the producers of this film that they slyly make fun of the "Evangelicals", but don't go over the top with it. A ... well, how shall I put this? ... a bodaciously voluptuous woman is allowed to complain about "fat, lazy" people who don't understand her tiny view of the world. A girl is allowed to say that "Britney Spears sings about boys and girls. We Christians don't believe in that." In what? In boys and girls? And the scenes of adults yelling at children are nicely intercut with an Air America radio host who just cannot believe the nonsense which these people are spouting. But the people who are the center of this film are -- and I'm sorry, I cannot find another word for it -- evil. Well-intentioned, I'm sure, but evil. They all but call on small children to take up arms in defense of their battle against science, homosexuals, Harry Potter and anyone and anything else that does not fit into their understanding, such as it is, of life. Some of the film dwells on the issue of home schooling. To me, home schooling is astonishing primarily in that America allows this to happen. Is it not ultimately clear that home schooling centers largely on people who wish to deny the accumulated wisdom of centuries of science? Is it not up to America to make sure that her children receive a proper education and not some claptrap that has been dreamed up by the supporters of so-called "intelligent design"? I write this as a committed Christian and activist in my church, but as God is my witness, at no point in my life have I ever been told that believing in God means that I must be stupid in every other aspect of my life. "Jesus Camp" shows a dedicated effort to ensure that, as the film's "protagonists" put it, "the key generation" is as stupid as it possibly can be. This is a documentary which must be seen by anyone who is concerned about the slow creep of fundamentalism in American sociopolitical life. The Air America radio host puts it very well in the film -- it may not seem like a threat, but brother, it is a threat, and oh, what a threat!Movie Review: Scary, Gut-wrenching
Summary: 5 Stars
What's so scary about this film is that I grew up like that. I went to these children's revivals and camps and grew up believing that anyone who doesn't believe in my God was going to hell and that I should be ready to die for the cause of Jesus. I am a fim believer that this type of indoctrination is the wrong answer. As someone who grew up that way, I found it devastating once I got into the real world and became aware of what other religions were really about, and that there was no way that all those people who are of different religions and who are good people are going to hell, simply for not believing the way I did.
What pastor becky fisher and these other adults don't seem to understand is that you can teach kids anything and they will believe it. That's why there are kids in Iraq and Afghanistan who are willing to emplace IEDs and strap on suicide bombs... because someone indoctrinated them to believe that it's the "truth", just like Becky Fisher was certain that "I'm sorry, but we have the truth!"
I grew up in a community much like the one in this film, and most of the kids I grew up with are now very much aware that reality is far from what we were taught. I know some people who learned the hard way in college and in their jobs that the world is not as simple as "either you're with God or you're against Him." And it's sad that grown people are still willing to raise their kids to believe so.
I won't say I'm traumatized from growing up that way, but I am a little bitter, because I missed out on a normal american childhood. I turned out okay, a productive citizen, an Army soldier, and currently serving in Iraq. However, I look back on my childhood and I know my kids won't grow up that way. They will be educated, not only in secular education, but also in world religions so that they will be aware of what's out there, and they can make their own choices as to what they believe in.
If these extremist Christians are so convinced that they hold the truth, why are they afraid to let them see what else is out there? Won't the truth prevail, no matter what else the kids are exposed to? Where is the faith in that? Why should you raise your kids to be single-minded and ignorant to other beliefs if you believe that you have the truth anyway?
And just one more thing I wanted to put out there: terrorists are not working for the cause of Islam like Becky Fisher said. They work for extremists who falsely claim the name of Islam, because Islam is a religion of peace. This is the kind of lie that will raise kids to discriminate and hate other religions. Christians complain that they are being persecuted all the time, meanwhile they are persecuting every other religion, trying to get their beliefs out of the country, which by the way is a free country where everyone should be free to practice their religion, faith, and beliefs.